Sharon's help

By: 
Keith Bryant
 In an attempt to make my food column a little more diversified, Sharon has decided to pick out food she would like to eat and send it to my Pinterest account. 
 Now think about that it is nice to  have someone in your life that you could just find any recipe you might like to try and send it to them to make for you. I may not be the perfect spouse, but living with me has some perks.
 We have been busy around the house getting ready for my Dad’s visit this week. He is coming for the fiddle contest and one of his friends from Texas is coming this year as well, so they can hang out during fiddle week.
 I told Sharon on Sunday that I had a few leeks leftover from the last recipe and she looked for recipes that had leeks in it for me to make. It looked like an upscale version of a chicken pot pie.
 Making dough for a certain type of pie crust is a gamble sometimes, but you can always use the frozen puff pastry at the grocery store to make all types of things. 
 Puff pastry is leavened by water in the layers of butter and dough evaporating in the hot oven, causing the layers to separate. Classic puff pastry has close to a thousand separate layers of butter and dough: the “thousand leaves” of millefeuille. This is very similar to a layered biscuit. 
 Puff pastry is a wonderful component in desserts, but it’s also spectacular for breakfast. 
 For a special occasion brunch, or weekend guest, make almond-filled bear claws with puff pastry as the dough. I have even made donuts with puff pastry on occasion.
 Like I said, this week is an upscale version of chicken pot pie, but you could easily make regular pot pie and then use the rest of the package to make a cobbler for dessert. 
 Next week maybe we can look at all the uses for Brie cheese.
Chicken, Leek and Brie Pie
Ingredients
2 large square sheets puff pastry
1 oz. butter
1 leek thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic crushed
14 oz. skinless chicken breast diced into 1 inch cubes
½ cup white wine
½ cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons corn flour
¼ cup cold water
3.5 oz (100g) brie thinly sliced
¼ cup parsley chopped
1 free-range egg lightly beaten
salt and pepper
Directions: 
 Thaw pastry on bench and heat oven to 390 degrees (200C) and line a cookie tray with parchment paper.
 In a medium sized saucepan over a medium heat, melt the butter and cook down the garlic and leek for around 8 minutes until soft. Add chicken and cook through.
 Add the wine and stock to the saucepan and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
 In a small bowl mix together the corn flour and water to create a paste. Add this to the chicken mixture along with the chopped parsley. Mix through and remove from heat.
 Take the first sheet of the puff pastry and place on a cutting board. Leaving a 1½ inch border around all sides make about 8 evenly spaced slits along the width of the pastry sheet.
 Place the second sheet on the cookie tray and spoon the chicken mixture into the center. Spread the mixture out, leaving a 1½ inch border. Place the slices of brie on top. With a pastry brush (or your finger), brush some of the beaten egg around this border. Place the first sheet on top of the second, press down the border with your fingers and brush the egg over the top of the pie.
 Cook for around 20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.
 

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Weiser, ID 83672
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